Every year, the California Community College Athletic Association (CCCAA) invites the top swimmers and divers throughout the state to compete at the CCCAA Swimming and Diving Championship. Dria Kwong, who swam for Allan Hancock College, competed in the women’s 100-yard butterfly event in 2016 and 2017. For both years now, Kwong made it to the […]
Dria Kwong
Posted inOpinion
Where there’s smoke
I am so damned tired of breathing in all this smoke, blinking ash out of my eyes, and hearing the buzz of helicopters and water tankers all day and night. If it’s not enough that our county was one of the few in the state that’s still under severe drought, now two monster wildfires have […]
Posted inOpinion
Civilized, sustainable health care
In the July 5 Santa Maria Times editorial, “Paying for our health,” the only fix to “Obamacare” that was mentioned is to go to a Medicare-like program for everyone. Much more effective health care, with dramatic cost savings, was proposed by Dr. John McDougall in his March 2017 free monthly newsletter! Go online to drmcdougall.com […]
Posted inOpinion
Stop with CO2 madness
Anthropogenic. I can barely say the word without pausing, taking a deep breath, and then like a sprinter, saying “anthropogenic.” It’s one of those made-up scientific-sounding words often paired with climate change. Probably Latin derived. Doctors, lawyers, biologists, and such all make up words with Latin derivation to sound scientific. Also, Latin is a dead […]
Posted inOpinion
Combating the dark world of human trafficking
There is a dark industry growing in the shadows of our communities: human trafficking. Human trafficking is an estimated $150 billion industry worldwide, with nearly 21 million victims. Horrifyingly, one quarter of the victims are children. According to the Polaris Project, “[t]raffickers use violence, threats, deception, debt bondage, and other manipulative tactics to force people […]
Posted inNews
Summer camps evacuated, canceled due to Whittier Fire
The Whittier Fire sent scores of campers home from three summer camps that were evacuated July 8 after the fire blazed across acres of dry, forested mountainside near Cachuma Lake. The fire began right around the gates of Camp Whittier, according to the Santa Barbara Sheriff’s Office Public Information Officer Kelly Hoover. The Sheriff’s Office […]
Posted inNews
Santa Barbara County still struggling with how to exempt temporary hoop houses from required permits
Those plastic-covered tubular structures in which raspberries, blackberries, and squash love to grow are part of the landscape along Highway 101 in Northern Santa Barbara County. But technically speaking, they’re not exactly legal. Since February 2016, the county’s been trying to change that, but the Board of Supervisors’ recent attempt to speed up the process […]
Posted inNews
County is ‘still in’ on Paris climate accord
In an act of defiance to President Donald Trump’s decision to pull out of the Paris climate accord, a majority of the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors voted to say, “We are still in.” In doing so, the board directed county Executive Officer Mona Miyasato to register the county as a signatory on an […]
Posted inNews
Whittier Fire burns more than 10,000 acres near Lake Cachuma
The Whittier Fire ignited on July 8 near Highway 154 at Cachuma Lake, and in just three days it had blazed through more than 10,000 acres of Santa Ynez Mountainside, destroying eight residences and 12 outbuildings, according to a July 11 update from agencies responding to the fire. In an update made to the county’s […]
Posted inMusic, Arts & Culture
Nipomo Arts Commission unveils new mural
A mural featuring some Nipomo historical structures set against the backdrop of the Temettate Ridge will serve as the centerpiece for the planned Jim O. Miller Park. Painted by Visalia artist Colleen Mitchell-Veyna of Veyna Design Studios, the 9-foot-by-30-foot mural is painted on the side of the Casa Grande Center facing the park on Carrillo […]
Posted inMusic, Arts & Culture
Santa Maria needs more artists for utility box project
The city of Santa Maria Recreation and Parks Department is looking for original artists to beautify five traffic signal control boxes in Santa Maria. Local artists from Santa Barbara County and San Luis Obispo County are encouraged to apply. A stipend of $500, and up to $250 reimbursement for material costs is available for the […]
Posted inMusic, Arts & Culture
Hancock’s plan for fine arts complex moves forward
Allan Hancock College’s planned Fine Arts Complex project was one of 15 capital outlay projects for community colleges included in the 2017-18 California state budget recently signed by Gov. Jerry Brown. Hancock will receive about half of the cost for the $48 million facility from the state through Proposition 51, which California voters passed last […]